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DINER'S JOURNAL

A restaurant as tiny as the Savoy doesn't seem as if it could subdivide, but it has. After nearly 13 years the restaurant has shed its Garbo-like image of secrecy, transforming the ground floor into a modern-looking cafe with diner overtones. The upstairs bar has been moved downstairs, the entrance to the restaurant has been shifted northward to the corner of Prince and Crosby Streets, and huge windows now make the Savoy's interior almost shockingly visible to the outside world. The upstairs remains old-fashioned and intimate. The brick fireplace survives intact.

Peter Hoffman, the Savoy's chef and owner, sticks with the same cooking philosophy that has won the Savoy a loyal following over the years, shopping the greenmarkets for local produce and pushing organic foods whenever possible. The makeover now gives him two formats: an all-day cafe menu and a more formal menu in the upstairs dining room. Downstairs the diners can construct a casual lunch, starting with small plates like charred eggplant with lemon and olive oil served with grilled bread or black-eyed pea fritters with cilantro relish. Pastas and sandwiches outnumber main courses. Conch pasta, tossed with spicy homemade Italian sausage, gets a fresh, crunchy lift from tiny Brussels sprout leaves, barely cooked.

Sandwiches avoid the obvious, notably the fried fluke sandwich with celery root and apple remoulade on sourdough bread. The smoked brisket sandwich kicks into gear with quince mustard and a layer of spicy greens.

The shifting dinner menu sticks with one of Savoy's signatures, duck breast baked in salt crust, although even here, the treatment varies. On a recent visit the duck was served in pear and saba sauce with curried rutabaga fritters. Other entrees included roasted halibut with garlicky white beans, braised escarole and taramasalata; braised lamb shanks with black olive jus, creamy polenta and a citrus watercress salad; and Catalan seafood stew with grilled bass, octopus and parsley aioli.

Savoy always put a premium on fresh ingredients, but the restaurant itself always looked old. The new-model Savoy retains the charm that has made it a perennial favorite, but it now looks a lot more like the food it serves.